Macbook Pro- Priced out of the market

[whitedragon101]

They charge what the market will pay.

That being said. I bought my 1st non-Apple laptop a few days ago. I've been using Mac laptops since the PowerBook 540c.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_500_series

For $2.7K, I got a machine that is 2x's faster, has 2x's the storage and I can upgrade parts of it.

What did you get?

 

[DarwinOSX]

Insanely high prices, NON-user upgradable, disposable machines is a trend I am not happy about either. I'm glad I have the last rev of the 15" cMBP that can grow with me over time.

I won't have to make this choice for a while, but I'd be hard pressed to justify buying the new 15" MBP with these prices.

Get used to it. Everything is going that way.

 

[Count Blah]

Get used to it. Everything is going that way.

Luckily I bought the last rev where you could. Apple is forcing me to hold onto this machine as long as humanly possible. Hopefully I can punt the decision to buy again for long enough that hackintoshing is easier for laptops, or apple has come to it senses enough from nevative user feedback. Perhaps when folks attempt to sell their 8gigs RAM machines, and sees that the market laughs at the woefully inadequate amout, that the "regular" folks start to voice their displeasure.

 

[Ckent03]

Apple is definitely pricing me out. When I got my 2011 MBP I immediately went home and starting pricing my older 2008 MBP for sale. Before posting, I loaded a favorite game onto the new MBP,and watched as the temperature of the computer went crazy high and the machine started pulling in more juice than the power supply could give. Took about a day before I learned that at just over 212 degrees the MBP will crash and require a hard reboot. As such, I kept the old MBP and still continue to do a good chunk of work on it. The newer MBP is almost strictly for heavy lifting, and when it is running it is always on a cooling pad with a fan blowing over the top as well to keep the temperature under control.

I don't give a flying fat one about how thin the computer is anymore. I want space in there for air to flow.

In the previous generation of MBP I could get a MBP with a dedicated graphics card for under $2k, not so anymore. After being burned multiple times on this, I don't even bother researching it- I've just accepted that I need a dedicated graphics card. Yes, new onboard options are improved, but so are demands from the computer and software.

I have upgraded RAM on every mac I have owned because I can get it more cost effectively from a third party. Not so anymore. Now I am forced into buying it from apple at original purchase at an extremely high premium.

SSD's offer fantastic performance, but are not cost effective. yeah, sure when the tech matures I will be thrilled to buy SSD's for my computers, but we are not there yet. My income is much higher than it was several years ago, but I still can't afford to get the space I need on an SSD. Why would I get excited about upgrading from a 2004 BOnneville to a 2014 Prosche Boxster when I still need to carry 4 passengers and need cargo space for groceries and general errands? Just give me the Bonneville so I can go on with my life.

I've been an Apple fan since I was 5 years old, but increasingly, Apple just does not make products for me. Yes, I stick around for the OS, but that is moving in directions I am not happy with as well. I don't know where the breaking point is, but I am less and less interested in new Apple products. The value just isn't what it used to be.

 

[BiggAW]

Have you ever used a Hybrid drive? By your post I HIGHLY doubt it. I've used all three-HDD, SSHD, and now a full SSD.

You boot files and frequently used files/apps go to the SSD portion. That is the whole point - You won't booting from HDD by having a hybrid drive. Obviously have a full SSD would ideal.

Also, you'rE are again, wrong with your insane comment. sub $1000 laptops almost always do not come standard with SSDs. $800 is the minimum I've seen. $1100-$1200+ models come with SSDs, and they are very small bootable SSDs(like 16-32gb) which is what hybrid drives do anyway. $500 is a gross over exaggeration. Please say to the face of the average buyer of a $700 laptop tell them to their face that they are insane for not having an SSD. Give me a break. I'm done with thread. I really need to get off this forum.

I've never used a hybrid drive, nor do I have any interest in one. I could see it as a cheap way of moving towards SSD if you're on a really tight budget, but if you have the money, get the real thing...

Most laptops use standard 2.5" drives, and in most cases, it's not hard to swap the drive out with one from Newegg... SSDs are like RAM a few years back... consumers haven't gotten how much they impact how fast the computer "feels" so they haven't begun demanding them on mainstream machines yet... but they will with time.

Yeah, I'd say that given the difference in performance, people with a $700 laptop without an SSD are nuts.

 

[robertopod1968]

well when you look at the 5c and the ipad 2 that they're still selling at premium prices, it's very difficult not to call them greedy.

Nobody is forcing anyone to buy anything. And not everybody wants cheap stuff. If someone were to offer you $5,000 right now for the phone you are using, would you sell it to them? Would that be greedy?